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The Boys

Original title: The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story
  • 20092009
  • PGPG
  • 1h 41m
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
1.2K
YOUR RATING
Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman in The Boys (2009)
Trailer for the DVD release of The Boys: The Shermans' Brothers  Story.
Play trailer1:39
11 Videos
9 Photos
Documentary
Their music is unforgettable. Their name is legend. Delve into the lives and cinematic legacy of the prolific songwriting duo whose music has been featured in classic movies such as Mary Pop... Read allTheir music is unforgettable. Their name is legend. Delve into the lives and cinematic legacy of the prolific songwriting duo whose music has been featured in classic movies such as Mary Poppins (1964) and The Jungle Book (1967).Their music is unforgettable. Their name is legend. Delve into the lives and cinematic legacy of the prolific songwriting duo whose music has been featured in classic movies such as Mary Poppins (1964) and The Jungle Book (1967).
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
1.2K
YOUR RATING
  • Directors
    • Gregory V. Sherman
    • Jeff Sherman
  • Stars
    • Richard M. Sherman
    • Robert B. Sherman
    • Roy Edward Disney
  • Directors
    • Gregory V. Sherman
    • Jeff Sherman
  • Stars
    • Richard M. Sherman
    • Robert B. Sherman
    • Roy Edward Disney
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 16User reviews
    • 22Critic reviews
    • 78Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos11

    DVD Trailer: The Boys: The Shermans' Brothers  Story
    Trailer 1:39
    Watch DVD Trailer: The Boys: The Shermans' Brothers Story
    The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story
    Trailer 1:55
    Watch The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story
    The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story
    Clip 1:27
    Watch The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story
    The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story
    Clip 1:29
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    The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story
    Clip 1:22
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    The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story
    Featurette 1:14
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    The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story
    Featurette 1:13
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    The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story
    Featurette 1:06
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    The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story
    Featurette 1:04
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    The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story
    Featurette 1:12
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    The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story
    Featurette 1:03
    Watch The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story

    Photos9

    Walt Disney, Richard M. Sherman, and Robert B. Sherman in The Boys (2009)
    Dick Van Dyke, Jeff Sherman, and Gregory V. Sherman in The Boys (2009)
    Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman in The Boys (2009)
    Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman in The Boys (2009)
    Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman in The Boys (2009)
    Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, Richard M. Sherman, and Robert B. Sherman in The Boys (2009)
    Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman in The Boys (2009)
    Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman in The Boys (2009)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Richard M. Sherman
    Richard M. Sherman
    • Self
    Robert B. Sherman
    Robert B. Sherman
    • Self
    Roy Edward Disney
    Roy Edward Disney
    • Self
    • (as Roy E. Disney)
    Julie Andrews
    Julie Andrews
    • Self
    Jim Dale
    Jim Dale
    • Self
    Micky Dolenz
    Micky Dolenz
    • Self
    Karen Dotrice
    Karen Dotrice
    • Self
    Samuel Goldwyn Jr.
    Samuel Goldwyn Jr.
    • Self
    Bruce Gordon
    • Self
    Sheldon Harnick
    Sheldon Harnick
    • Self
    James Jensen
    • Self
    Jeff Kurtti
    Jeff Kurtti
    • Self
    John Landis
    John Landis
    • Self
    Angela Lansbury
    Angela Lansbury
    • Self
    John Lasseter
    John Lasseter
    • Self
    Gavin Lee
    Gavin Lee
    • Self
    Wendy Liebman
    • Self
    William Link
    • Self
    • Directors
      • Gregory V. Sherman
      • Jeff Sherman
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      All entries contain spoilers
    • Quotes

      Robert B. Sherman: [talking about Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers] She was such a witch.

    • Crazy credits
      A clip from Charles A. Lindbergh (1927) is shown during the credits.
    • Connections
      Edited from Hollywood goes to a World Premiere (1964)
    • Soundtracks
      Lindbergh Eagle of the USA (1927)
      Music by Al Sherman

    User reviews16

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    Compelling tale of sibling dysfunction
    "The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story" is a documentary about Robert and Richard Sherman, the legendary songwriting brothers who composed the music for such films as "The Jungle Book," "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," "Bednobs and Broomsticks" and their indisputable masterpiece "Mary Poppins," which features one of the finest scores ever written for an original movie musical.

    Though "The Boys" was produced and distributed by The Disney Studios - for whom the duo worked for many years – and was written and directed by their sons, Gregory V. and Jeff Sherman, this is no hagiography designed to provide a whitewashed account of its subject. On the contrary, it provides us with a warts-and-all look at the siblings who, while they could make great music together on a professional level, found it virtually impossible to harmonize on a personal one. In fact, their relationship was so strained that they essentially raised their families in isolation from one another (they even attended separate funeral receptions when their parents passed away) - and still today, the two men, even in the twilight of their lives, have yet to heal the breach that separates them.

    What's interesting – and, frankly a little maddening - about the film is that we're never quite sure what it is that caused this rupture, mainly because the boys themselves seem unable to account for it (half the time they seem to be unaware it even exists). All we know is that, for decades in public, they were able to put on a happy face and maintain the fiction that they were every bit as close as brothers as they were as songwriters, while out of the limelight and to the awareness of those who knew them, they had drifted irrevocably apart.

    Through interviews with their children, co-workers and admirers over the years, as well as with Bob and Dick themselves, the movie chronicles their childhood growing up in New York City, then Beverly Hills; their devotion and indebtedness to their songwriting father, Al Sherman; Robert's injury in World War II and the trauma of helping to liberate Dachau; their early years writing pop songs together and with others; their entry into composing for the movies with a song for "The Parent Trap." Then it's on to their years as the only songwriters lucky enough to be under contract to Disney; their close personal relationship with Walt himself; their Oscar-winning triumph with "Mary Poppins;" their eventual split with the studio after the death of Walt; their later work through the '70s and beyond; and their reunion at the London premiere of the stage version of "Poppins" in 2006.

    Despite the fact that the rift between the two is never adequately explained, the movie provides a treasure-trove of information, clips and snippets from that period in which they produced their work. There are moments of ribald humor and wistful nostalgia as we relive the memories the Sherman boys have provided for those of us fortunate enough to have grown up on their songs (they were even responsible for that most maddeningly memorable of ditties, "It's a Small World"). Indeed, in the face of all the personal animosity between the two men, it's the music and the memories that ultimately "help the medicine go down" while watching "The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story."
    helpful•3
    0
    • Buddy-51
    • Nov 8, 2011

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 24, 2009 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story
    • Filming locations
      • London, England, UK
    • Production companies
      • Walt Disney Pictures
      • Crescendo Productions
      • Traveling Light Partners
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $55,513
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $14,632
      • May 24, 2009
    • Gross worldwide
      • $55,513
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 41 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • SDDS
      • Dolby Digital
      • DTS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.78 : 1

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